I went to see Susan Alcorn play last night to a small crowd at a local art gallery (I must say I was surprised at how few steel players and forumites were there). She played some amazing music completely solo. Though there was much spontaniety and improvisation I was most impressed by the more arranged and composed parts. There were long stretches of some of the most beautiful and unique chord voicings I've ever heard on steel, on a modified C6th. Mostly original tunes with jazz, modern classical and international influences (largely South American last night; some really beautiful melodies). Susan's obviously spent a lot of time and thought developing her own approach to the instrument and you adventurous types owe it to yourself to check her out if you haven't already. She's got a great sense of dynamics and phrasing and a great touch; there was some very moving playing. Some of the more experimental stuff didn't do as much for me personally but it's great that she's pushing the boundaries of what people think the instrument can or should do... She didn't include a link to her website on recent posts so I'll include it here. She's heading to the Northeast to do several gigs; there's info on the "Events and Announcements" part of the forum.
http://www.susanalcorn.com/ [This message was edited by Pete Finney on 20 July 2004 at 07:53 AM.]
